


In this world we're just beginning

by ThePoeticMadman



Category: Persona 5
Genre: I'm so glad this thing's finally finished...I AM FREE, M/M, Ryuji and Ann in mentions, all I can offer is their banter, from this work at least, if you're here for the ship then I'm sorry, somebody help, the mountain of WIPs doesn't stop growing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23514136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePoeticMadman/pseuds/ThePoeticMadman
Summary: A demon finds a chained angel in Hell. Curious of why the angel is down there, he tries to help him. The angel, however, surprises him.None of them expected to get close. And yet, they do.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19





	In this world we're just beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning for mild gore. It's nothing big, but if you're not a fan of liver out of the body, then yeah.

“I thought this was my domain?” the boy smirks and swings his dark wings. It was rare to see an angel here.

The angel chained to the wall picks his head up. His wings stretch a bit, moving the rattling chains. Two big crosses from the chains are tying his wings up.

“Oh, it is. I’m sorry to intrude on your privacy.”

“Don’t mention it,” the other boy chuckles and rubs the back of his neck. The angel watches him sideways. _What an arrogant jerk._

“Wait a bit…” the boy studies him slowly.

“Well, if you haven’t noticed yet, I have _all_ the time the world,” the angel swings his wrists, making the chains connecting them and ankles rattle once more, “though I _would_ appreciate it if you wouldn’t ogle me as some kind of an animal,” he growls, annoyed.

The other boy doesn’t say anything but looks to the chains. He runs his hand through his dark and messy hair. Altogether, these metal ropes are intertwined, tied from the wrists to the waist to the ankles and then to the wings, immobilizing the person.

“Well, my apologies, but you’re simply… _angelically breath-taking_.”

“Well, would you look at that,” the boy laughs, throwing his head backwards. The brown, chestnut like hair hides his face. When he bends forward again, hair falling, his smile lightly twists, “you haven’t changed at all.”

Akira’s eyes widen when his ears catch the whisper. “I _knew_ I’ve seen you before!” No way mistaking the slender and elegant wings.

“You realize that only now?” Akechi’s snort is mocking.

“Akechi, I-“

“Don’t you _pity_ me, trash,” he snaps before anything else can be said. Akira trembles – there’s only been one time when Akechi revealed such side to him, and that was…

“…I thought you were dead.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint you.”

Akira clenches his teeth. “That’s not what I-!”

**_“Leave.”_ **

Akechi turns his head to the side, and Akira sighs quietly. He won’t listen to him now.

He turns to go away, but before he does, he says to Akechi, without turning to him: “I’m going now.” _I’ll be back to-_

“Good. And don’t come back,” the snarky answer follows. _I don’t need your help, and I don’t want it either._

Akira’s eyes tear up a bit before he finally flies away. When he looks down, he sees Akechi didn’t even look at him.

When he arrives to their meeting place, he remembers Akechi’s words.

_You haven’t changed at all._

Akira exhales. There was this aura of suffering, pain around him…how _long_ has he been there?

 _You changed too much, Akechi,_ he thinks.

“Fuck off.”

Akira huffs. “Akechi, I’m trying to help you!”

“I know, and I don’t appreciate it.”

“Come on, just let me get you out of these chains!”

“They don’t come down that easily, especially when it’s _you_.”

Akira ignores the snarky reply and focuses on chains instead. They’re a bother, tied up so precisely he doesn’t even know where to start…he huffs again, aggrieved. Whoever tied this together knew what they were doing.

“Giving up already?” the mocking question addresses him. He doesn’t react to it.

Then the white-red-gold outfit, although already tore, starts to shift. The colours dance in slowly darkening spirals before the whole outfit darkens.

Akira shudders, realization creeping from his neck up to his spine. But before he can ask what’s going on, he hears Akechi chuckle.

“So it’s back.”

Back? What’s back?

He freezes, feeling a fast swish close to his cheek. He rolls to the side, crouching and wings wide open. A screech comes from above; his eyes follow the sound.

In the sky, there’s a shadow looming over, rounding one particular spot. When the demon looks down, frost bites him once again.

Akechi’s watching the shadow as well.

Then the shadow dives down. Shortly before it flies up, its thin legs stretch forward. Akira catches a glimpse of sharp talons.

A sound of tearing clothes, and a scream of pain. His view quickly shifts to Akechi- and he gulps. A lacerated wound on the stomach. Not only that, but liver hanging from the opening as well.

Akechi pants but looks up again. The hawk is flying in circles again…before diving down.

This time, Akechi throws his wrists in front. The bird screeches and pecks, but the chains cover up most of the area, making it hard to inflect a wound. The angel spits to bird’s head, and it flies away, shrieking angrily. It starts to fly in circles…

Akira jumps up, few feathers falling from his wings, making Akechi looking to him before looking back to the hawk. There’s nothing he can do – that bird is terribly stubborn, and it’ll peck at his liver once again. It does so every day, without fail. There’s no use to stop it, and one can only do so much to protect their flesh.

The hawk dives down again, but it’s stopped midway by Akira who collides with it. The bird shrieks and flies up. Akira flies from side to side before finding balance again and trying to find where the bird flew off…he hears another scream and launches down to Akechi, terrified to the end of his feathers.

Akechi hits the bird repeatedly and waves his wrists around, trying to shield himself from the sharp beak and talons. The bird itself seems to be highly unamused by the whole situation, angrily squeaking, flapping its wings and its little legs trying to grab anything. The talons scratch the smooth outfit on the forearm, tearing it. The scratch itself is a shallow one, but it still stinks.

Akechi growls and quickly hits the hawk right to the head. It falls to the side, sliding with an angry _squawk._ It flutters a bit but doesn’t stand up – then it lies down, unmoving.

“Looks like you’ve got it!” Akira lands down next to him, smile on his face.

“Don’t get too happy,” Akechi coughs, “I’ve only injured it. It’s not dead.”

“Uh, right…but mostly, your…” Akira reaches out to Akechi’s wound but his hand gets slapped.

“I’ll be _fine_ …this is nothing,” the angel says as he slowly heals the wound, light coming from his right hand. Akira sits still, watching the wound closing, eyeing how the skin roughly seals up.

“You’re quite good at this,” Akira comments while still eyeing the area where the wound was before. He can still see few rough lines, but otherwise the skin is fine…and there’s no liver hanging out either.

Akechi chuckles painfully. “Yeah, years of practice do that.”

“Years?” Akira looks to Akechi, confused. “Weren’t you fighting in Heaven’s front lines before?”

“Often enough to learn quickly that relying solely on a healer is a catastrophe,” Akechi coughs up few drops of blood. “There are a lot of angels on the battlefield, and if you don’t heal yourself quickly, you might lose your life. Not that they wouldn’t resurrect you, they could, but sometimes they don’t. They have other pawns as well, after all…” the words die down as Akechi leans against the wall behind him. He said too much.

A _squawk_ catches their attention next. The hawk’s slowly getting up on its feet, wings open and head leaning on the ground trying to get the body up. Akira jumps forward, to Akechi’s left, and unfolds his black wings.

“Save your breath,” Akechi hisses through clenched teeth, “it’s not going to attack. At least not now.” Just as he ends saying that, the hawk flies up to the sky again, only this time its shadow’s slowly disappearing in the distance.

Akira exhales a relieved sigh and turns to Akechi again. “Why are you even here? It’s not…you don’t often see…”

Akechi grins. “You’re only asking _that_ now?” He exhales and looks to the sky, head leaning on the wall. “I’ll just say that some business happened, and now I’m here. The hawk you saw earlier has been visiting me for some time now…” he turns his head to Akira. “In fact, you’re the first to approach me. Most demons I’ve seen fly by didn’t even give me a glance…though I’m glad for that.”

“Well, I…” Akira rubs his front hair. How does he say that he saw the angel few times before from sideways? How do you say that you flew off few times just to see the angel again, to make sure he’s safe ever since you saw him almost fall from the battlefield that one time?

Perhaps it was fate…though Akira internally cringes at that. He doesn’t believe in fate, and if there is something like that, he’d rather defy it with the last of his breath. Having something that already wrote your life details is not something he looks fondly upon.

“I just thought you looked…ahem, lonely,” he says in the end, coughing a bit. He almost looked like he was dead, but he doesn’t need to know that-

“Right. I’m sure I looked rather dead.”

Is he reading his mind? Akechi smirks when Akira looks to him, eyes wide.

“Thought that, didn’t you?”

“…maybe,” a hesitant reply follows. Akechi’s lips curl up in a corner.

“You’re quite bad at lying.”

“Who? Me? Oh please. I’m a master of lies,” the demon flips his hair in a dramatic gesture.

“Right,” Akechi puffs ironically.

“So, how long have you…been there?” he waves towards the chains. The angel looks to them, then tears in movement, and sighs when the chains respond with their usual clatter. He then notices how the demon hasn’t looked away from him the entire time he did that.

“Well, let’s just say fortnight has already passed.”

_So it could be fourteen days or more._

“Why do you even ask? You’re not trying to help me, are you?” The angel scowls when the demon nods. “After what I did to you and your party? You’re really unbelievable.”

“You were under orders, weren’t you? I don’t blame you for that.”

“That still doesn’t excuse what I did!” the angel shouts, then hangs his head low. “You should just give up on me, as everyone else did.”

“ _Because_ everyone gave up on you, is the reason why I can’t.”

“Oh, your hero complex is _infuriating_ me.”

“It’s not-“

“Yes, it is,” the angel cuts him off sentence. “You’re always extending your hand to others, expecting them to just take it; do you really think some of those you’re helping won’t bite back? Will you be surprised if that happens? Why don’t you just accept that there are some of us who _don’t want_ any help.”

“A dog that barks does not bite, the one who bites doesn’t bark, and the one who bites is the one who needs help the most.”

“All of them can bite or bark, you moron.”

“ _Oh, come on!_ ”

“Look, I don’t understand why you want to help me, but I’m telling you right now that I _don’t want it!_ ”

“But do you _need_ it?”

“What _I_ need or not is _none_ of _your_ damn business!”

“It is!”

“Oh? And why? Tell me ONE single reason why!”

“BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU, YOU ASSHOLE.”

That makes the angel shut up, staring at the demon, not breaking the eye contact even when they hear a ruckus in the distance. Meanwhile, the demon looks to the sound, trying to get a hold of what that was supposed to be.

“Add few more decibels to that and you might actually break the barrier.”

“…a barrier?”

_Oh, crap._

“So you WERE protected from others, somehow!”

“You’re even duller than the last time we met. _Of course_ , I added up a barrier. This is Hell, after all.”

“I had a feeling that bit about no one stopping and going to you sounded unreal.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Wouldn’t Heaven add that barrier though? To make sure you suffer even more.”

“I doubt it. They’d just probably want to speed up the process of me getting killed.”

“That’s not surprising.”

“Personal experience?”

“You could say that.”

Akira sits on the ground. “Still…” he looks through the chains again, “this might take a while. I know someone who’s familiar with spells and such. Maybe she could help…but I doubt she’d do it without persisting to see your problem first-hand…”

“She won’t see a thing because I don’t want anyone here to ogle me.”

“Speaking of,” Akira ignores that, “you said you added the barrier, and yet I could get close to you with no problem.”

“I was merciful,” Akechi lets his muscles relax. “I figured that if anybody had to kill me, you’d be a good bet.”

“Why me?”

“Who else than the most famous rebel who shot a god to the face?” Akechi cackles. Akira notices the rather low volume of it.

“I’m that famous up in Heaven?”

“Well, shooting a god isn’t quite on daily scandals, no.”

“As much as I’d love to stay and hear about stories of me circulating around Heaven, I have to go now.”

“I thought you’d never say that, given how you’ve been overstaying your visits.”

 _Asshole._ “Oh, don’t worry – I’m not leaving you _that_ easily. I’m asking around for the spells you’re tied to.”

“Don’t even bother.”

“Seriously! You take me out of room and then there’s nothing! I could’ve stayed inside.”

“…I wasn’t lying.”

“I believe you, Akira,” Futaba waves around the spot, “but as you can see, this place’s as empty as my bag of chips. No one’s here.”

The demon scratches his head. It’s true he’s been busy trying to help everyone with their troubles this week, but he really didn’t think that the angel would just…disappear. There’s not even a small piece of his clothes, nothing indicating where he went. The chains are lying right here, broken to multiple pieces, their prior silver shine gone. The only disturbing thing is the blood, but that’s because of the hawk.

“Since the blood’s mainly there, I can imagine someone getting injured. Then that someone healed themselves and walked off.”

_That’s likely, and just like Akechi._

“…hey, Akira?”

“Hm?”

“Since when did you grow white feathers?”

“…Futaba, that’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking! Look,” she grabs his left wing, making him yelp.

“Could you be more careful-“

“Look, it’s right there-! Fold your wing a bit, you can’t almost see it.”

At first thinking she was really just making fun of him; he finally sees it. Underneath main and big feathers is nestling a small plume. It’s not that visible when covered…but it’s still there.

“I thought demons couldn’t grow white feathers again?”

“You’ve seen some of us walking around with full white wings, didn’t you?”

“I mean, yeah – these ones actually take care of their wings. They say if you reeeeeeeally try, you can still have them fully white…few care though because everybody lets them grow to black anyways- but that still doesn’t explain this! I’ve read somewhere though that it happens when you’re trying to get back, back to the upper realm…”

“Oh, right. I am _sooooo_ tired of this gloomy hell, I’m actually planning to escape. You’ve got me, you’ve uncovered my grand scheme plan.”

“Yeah yeah, we’ve been knew.” She pats the little plume. “But it’s small, so you’re not that gone yet!”

“I’ll try to pluck it out later.”

“Oooooh, ewwww, that’s gonna hurt.”

“It’s nothing big. Just one feather.”

“Sure, but don’t say that to me when you’re gonna bleed out.”

“I wouldn’t meet my end like that, I assure you. Anyways, can you leave this between us? I don’t need Ryuji freaking out over me. Or Ann. You know how they can turn out.”

“You’ve got me. Just hide it well and you’re fine.”

“Thanks, Futaba.”

“Anytime!” She stands up and stretches her own wings. “I’d never want white wings though. Or at least fully white ones. Black’s my colour!”

“So’s mine. Let’s get going – Ann and Ryuji are probably waiting for us.”

“Right. I’m just going to cocoon myself back to my room.”

“So…you really just left your friends out?”

“They’re watching a movie today and I’ve already seen it twice.”

“And you stayed behind because of me?”

“I don’t have anything better to do. And you still owe me questions.”

“You should’ve just gone with your friends. Isolating you from them is the last thing I want to do.”

“I thought you enjoyed my company?”

“Enjoying someone’s company doesn’t mean restricting them. I’m more surprised you’re willing to hang out with me – last time we met, I believe I told you to not bother yourself with me.”

“That was months ago. When I found where you live, you didn’t seem like kicking me out.”

“I was very close to it, but had a feeling you’d come back anyways, so I dealt with you directly. It seemed like the better option.”

“I like hanging out with you. And we were on few dates as well.”

“I don’t count that disaster of a meeting in the café and then you ruffling my hair a date.”

“That was one of our best ones.”

“I disagree. The one where you fell into a pond and had swans chasing you afterwards was much better.”

“My clothes got all dump from that. Doesn’t count. AND the jazz bar way much better.”

“At least that’s something we agree on.”

“Hm. Say-“ straightening his back, Akira points Akechi’s wings, “since when did you grow these?”

“Hm? Oh, this?” Akechi moves his wings a bit. The upper half of them black, while the nether still white. “I haven’t noticed, to be honest. It probably started out with underneath plumes and then made its way to the surface. Nobody’s here to judge me, anyways.”

“They weren’t like that when we met at first.”

“Now that you mention it, I think it started around the time when we met. Or closely after that. Besides,“ and he points with chin to Akira’s wings, “you seem to have similar problem.”

“I thought you’d curse me, for a while,” Akira inspects the nether half. Snow-like feathers here, although covered with black ones. “They’ve been growing more and more…”

“Having a trouble with covering them up?”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you just tell your friends about it? I bet they’d try to help you.”

“One of them knows. The rest has already their own problems. Mine’s not important.”

“It might not be a life threating problem, but it’s still a problem. If you’re not willing to discuss it with them, at least don’t hide it from me.”

“I know you won’t judge. Or worry too much.”

“I’ve heard of such cases, even met few. You’re not the only one with it out there.”

“Good to know. Could it be a mutation of sorts?”

“Very much could be. Colour wing patterns aren’t consistent. At least here people don’t care about it as much as in Heaven.”

“I’ve seen few mixed wings there, though.”

“That’s only common folk. If you’re trying to make your way up in ranks, they demand a fully white wings, otherwise you can say goodbye to having any higher rank. They deem you unworthy if you grow even one black feather.”

“Exactly. Harsh and unnecessary, if you ask me.”

“They do want to uphold the old image of pure representatives.”

“Rich from coming one of the most corrupt places.”

“It’s what it is. There are corrupted areas even here, I’m sure you’re aware of them.”

“It’s not that bad. Definitely better than in Heaven.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but then again, you’re more knowledgeable. You’ve lived here longer.”

“I still discover new places every now and then. The area’s huge and has lots of secrets. Speaking of which, want to try out this one bar I found? It’s not as comfortable as the one you usually go to, but it seems fine. They even have darts.”

“No billiard?”

“Bowling.”

“That seems nice. We can even discuss your wings problem, if you’d want to.”

“I’ll figure something out. And the more I spend time with you the more I think you’re stealing my colours.”

“Maybe I am?”

“…”

“Kidding, of course. Give me a minute then and we’re good to go.”

“I think you’ll like the place.”

“We’ll see. How about we have a challenge with darts? The loser can pay the drinks.”

“Fine by me. What does the winner gain?”

“Secret.”

“You’re on.”

**Author's Note:**

> The winner gains a kiss and a competitive make-out session, but I was too lazy to include that. I'm mostly happy this thing is FINALLY finished. The ShuAke Week was in October! Last year!! I'm months late!!!
> 
> I referred the Prometheus tale without even knowing it. All I remembered was some dude being attacked by an eagle and chained up to a rock. Interesting how brain can remember something interesting but then it leaves out important information! (In this case, the name Prometheus. My friend had to tell me the name because otherwise I wasn't able to remember it.)
> 
> Also fun fact: did you know that an eagle cry in movies is actually a cry of red-tailed hawk? Same when they use roar of a tiger for a roar of a lion. A reason why I changed the eagle to a hawk. Because why not.
> 
> Also, the bit of wings changing colours was inspired by the lovely fic called Purgatory by Lia404. Please read it if you can. It's such a good fic.
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading this. If the writing seems weird, then that's on me...haven't written anything in a while.


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